The big story in The New York Times on November 20, 1985, concerned Hurricane Kate's advance as it smashed into northern Cuba and the Florida Keys before barreling north to threaten the Gulf Coast. But another big story -- for the technology world -- was about to unfold thousands of miles away in Las Vegas, where the Comdex trade show was getting under way.

"If you buy a pre-built Windows computer: all the hardware is going to work fine with the operating system. Likewise, if you were to buy a pre-built Linux computer from someplace like System76: you can be sure that the hardware will work just fine too.

With the version of Ubuntu they ship the laptop with. Try another Linux distro this your mileage will vary.

The problem is when somebody takes a computer built for Windows and tries to install Linux on it. There may be some hardware you just can not get drivers for. The same problem happens when people try to switch versions of Windows on a machine and is probably worse. For example: If a person tries to upgrade a machine that came with Windows XP to Windows 7, it is likely that they are going to end up with some orphaned hardware

This only happens if you downgrade Windows on newer hardware, not if you upgrade.

Hardware that didn't exist at the time, the OS hasn't got drivers for ... who would have thought?! "

BS. Plenty of hardware has become obsolete on newer Microsoft systems. This is a dated reference but I remember getting a free printer and scanner with my brand new Windows ME laptop when ME first came out. The free hardware didn't have drivers for ME and NEVER did.

Not too long ago I did work for a printing company and most of the printers and scanners didn't have drivers for Windows 7 machines and never will because those machines can last 10-20 years but the manufacturer would rather sell you a new one and Microsoft doesn't give a fuck. This is actually a much better situation on Linux because you are not beholden to the manufacturer. I would be willing to bet there has been less hardware obsolescence on Linux over the past 20 years than Windows.